Current Affairs Update – 14th April, 2015

Hello and welcome to ExamPundit. Here are the important current affairs from 14th April, 2015.

• India's rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2014 among the top 30 merchandise exporters of the world, while China continues to hold the top slot, according to the WTO report.
• Similarly, New Delhi's rank as a leading importer too has not changed in 2014 at 12th position. In imports, the US topped the list.
• In 2014, India's exports stood at USD 317 billion while imports were USD 460 billion. In 2013, the country's outbound and inbound shipments aggregated at USD 312 billion and USD 466 billion respectively.
• India’s exports by volume fell from 8.5 per cent in 2013 to 3.5 per cent in 2014 while 2013 had been a bad year for India in terms of imports by volume rebounded from - 0.3 per cent in 2013 to 2.9 per cent in 2014.
• Further India has slipped to 8th and 10th rank last year amongst the top 30 leading exporters and importers of commercial services respectively. Its position was 6th and 7th in 2013. This list was topped by the US in both exports and imports.
• In 2014, India's commercial services exports aggregated at USD 154 billion while imports were USD 124 billion.
• Indian government has recently announced incentives and new institutional mechanisms as part of the new Foreign Trade Policy to nearly double country's goods and services exports to USD 900 billion by 2019-2020.

• World Bank on 13 April 2015 released South Asia Economic Focus report. The report has projected the economic growth of South Asia for the year 2016 and 2017.
• As per the report, economic growth of the region will increase from 7 percent in 2015 to 7.6 percent by 2017. This increase in the forecast of growth rate has been possible primarily due to decline in oil prices and it could be achieved by maintaining strong consumption and increasing investment.
• The region is among the greatest global beneficiaries from cheap oil, as all countries in it are net oil importers. In the Quarter 4 (Q4) of 2014 South Asia was already the fastest-growing region in the world.
• The report projected a GDP growth rate of 8 per cent for India by 2017. In India, GDP growth is expected to accelerate to 7.5 per cent in fiscal year 2015-16. It could reach 8 per cent in FY 2017-18, on the back of significant acceleration of investment growth to 12 per cent during FY 2016 to FY 2018.
• The report highlighted that India has already taken encouraging steps to decouple international oil prices from fiscal deficits and to introduce carbon taxation to address the negative externalities from the use of fossil fuels. The challenge will be to stay the course in the event of oil price hikes – something that may well happen in the medium term.

• World Bank on 13 April 2015 released Migration and Development Brief. In 2014, India continued to be highest recipients of remittance.
• The top five remittance recipient countries, in terms of value of remittances, continue to be India, China, Philippines, Mexico and Nigeria.
• The top five migrant destination countries continue to be the United States, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
• Report said that the remittances to the developing world are expected to reach 440 billion US dollar in 2015, an increase of 0.9 percent over the year 2014. Global remittances, including those to high income countries, are projected to grow by 0.4 percent to 586 billion US dollar.
• The 2015 remittance growth rates are the slowest since the global financial crisis in 2008-09. Nonetheless, the number of international migrants is expected to exceed 250 million in 2015, and their savings and remittances are expected to continue to grow.

• Ernst & Young (EY) on 13 April 2015 released a report titled Global IPO Trends 2015. The report focuses on the global trends in Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in the Quarter 1 (Q1) of 2015.
• As per the report, Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) became the world leader in Initial Public Offerings (IPO) for the first time, outshining rivals, New York and Hong Kong during the 2015 Q1. In 2015 Q1, SSE raised 5.4 billion US dollars.

• Top six Exchanges by fund raised during 2015 Q1 were Shanghai Stock Exchange (5.4 billion US dollar), Madrid Stock Exchange (5.3 billion US dollar), New York Stock Exchange (3.5 billion US dollar), London Stock Exchange (3.4 billion US dollar), Bursa Malaysia Stock Exchange (3 billion US dollar) and Swiss Stock Exchange (2.5 billion US dollar)
• Top six countries by deal volume in 2015 Q1 were China (98 deals), US (28 deals), Japan (24 deals), UK (12 deals), France (11 deals) and Australia (9 deals).

• Introducing an innovative business model, Kochi Metro Rail Limited—whose 25-km-long, Rs. 5,300-crore Kochi Metro project is half-way through—has tied up with Axis Bank for an automated fare collection system (AFC) for the metro.
• Following an international competitive bidding, Axis Bank has been chosen to invest the entire funds required for the AFC. It will also pay a royalty of Rs. 209 crore to KMRL over the next 10 years for the right to be KMRL’s partner.
• The bank will take care of maintenance of the AFC system for 10 years. The bank will issue co-branded debit cards to the users of the Kochi Metro system. Twenty per cent of the bank’s gross revenues from the utilisation of this debit card outside KMRL’s ecosystem in various mercantile outlets and internet transactions over the next 10 years will also go to KMRL.
• In return, the bank will get the unique opportunity to populate its debit card in the metro ecosystem and in the entire city with the possibility of getting a large number of new clientele, KMRL pointed out in a statement. The bank will get the "first mover" advantage in this model which it can replicate in other cities in India.
• KMRL on Tuesday claimed that this was the first time such a business model, designed by it, was being launched anywhere in the world. This would change funding models for AFC systems in the metro industry globally.

• The Chinese Government on 13 April 2015 quashed the bid of Taiwan to become a full member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for lack of appropriate name.
• The Chinese Government said that it would welcome Taiwan in the future but under a different name.
• Taiwan made a last-minute application to join the AIIB as a founding member on the deadline day of 31 March 2015 under the name of Chinese-Taipei. The name was used by the International Olympic Committee and the Asian Development Bank.
• Taiwan hoped that joining AIIB as a full member would help its push for regional economic integration and participation in international trade organisations.
• Taiwan will now seek to join the bank as an ordinary member, instead of a founding member.

• Flipkart has decided to pull out of an ongoing discussion with Airtel to join the Airtel Zero platform. The move follows criticism that the deal would violate the principles of net neutrality.
• In a statement Flipkart said it strongly believed in the concept of net neutrality. "We exist because of the Internet. Over the past few days there has been a great amount of debate, both internally and externally, on the topic of zero rating, and we have a deeper understanding of the implications," the e-commerce company said.
• Bharti Airtel recently launched a new platform that will enable users to get access to applications and services with zero data charges. Called ‘Airtel Zero’, the platform will allow users to access chat apps, e-commerce sites, gaming portals, and other Internet-based services without having to pay for the data usage. Under the new model, Airtel will collect the data charges from the app service providers.
• However, both Airtel and Flipkart had to face a severe backlash from supporters of net neutrality. They argued that the deal gives preferential treatment to certain companies with deep pockets and, therefore, kills start-ups and innovation.

• To mark the 124 birth anniversary of the Father of the Indian Constitution, Google has posted a doodle on its home pages in 8 countries around the world.
• The BR Ambedkar doodle is visible on Google's country-specific home pages across three continents - Argentina, Chile, India, Ireland, Peru, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
• Popularly known as Babasaheb, the Indian jurist, politician, economist and social reformer, who was born in 1841 in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, was known for his campaigns against social discrimination against dalits, women and labour.
• Dr. Ambedkar, who had inspired the Modern Buddhist Movement, had died in his sleep on 6 December 1956 at his home in Delhi.

• Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley on 14 April 2015 inaugurated the Vividh Bharati Service of Delhi on FM Mode in a function held at premises of New Broadcasting House of All India Radio (AIR). The service will be available on 100.1 Megahertz frequency.
• With this launch, the services of Vividh Bharati of AIR will be available to listeners in and around Delhi. The service will also be available on mobile phones.
• Apart from this, Jaitley also announced that the DD Kisan channel will be launched in May 2015.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have been voted among the 100 most influential people in the world in an online poll by readers of Time magazine.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin emerged the winner of this year’s Time 100 readers’ poll. He edged out rapper-singer CL to claim the number one spot with 6.95 per cent of the votes in the final tally.
• Pop stars Lady Gaga (2.6 per cent), Rihanna (1.9 per cent) and Taylor Swift (1.8 per cent) rounded out the top five.
• While the official list of the 100 most influential people in the world will be announced later this week, Time editors had asked readers to cast their vote online for people from politics, entertainment, business, technology, science, religion and other fields who “changed the world this past year, for better or worse.”
• Mr. Modi, however garnered just 0.6 per cent of the votes cast, with only 34 per cent of the people voting in his favour and 66 per cent against.
• Mr. Kejriwal got 0.5 per cent, with 71 per cent voters saying he should not be in the list.

• Johannesburg in South Africa was in news as on 13 April 2015 a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was defaced by a group of people calling him a racist. The group had placards that read: Racist Gandhi must fall.
• The statue in Johannesburg is believed to be the only one in the world showing Gandhi as a young lawyer in his court robes. 
• The statue is on a public transport hub square which was renamed Gandhi Square because the offices in which he practiced law during his stay in the city are on the periphery of the square.

Regards



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